‘Crave More’ attempts to make PC a lifestyle brand

New campaign from John St. asks a lot of questions

Mai Nguyen
September 18, 2014

Who thought to bite into a pineapple? Who looked at a lobster and thought to eat it? Asking these “what ifs” and “why nots” is the inspiration behind Loblaw‘s new “Crave More” campaign for its President’s Choice (PC) brand.

The campaign, which launches today, marks the company’s desire to transition from strictly a food brand to a lifestyle brand. It includes 30-second TV spots, in-store marketing, an overhaul of PC.ca and an amplified social media presence.

While it’s not an outright rebranding, Loblaw hopes this campaign will strengthen the company’s reputation for food innovation and encourage customers to expect more ethically sourced foods.

The campaign features billboards and banners that pose questions such as, “What if organic was a commitment, not just a trend?” or “Why can’t Wednesday night taste like Saturday night?”

One of the more evident changes of this campaign is the relaunch of PC.ca, which features a new community called Discoveries, which invites Canadians to have conversations about not just PC products, but about food itself and what it means to them.

PC partnered with Google Canada to derive analytics, insight, and trends into what food conversations Canadian are having across the country, and then uses that information to fuel the site’s direction.

The company will also be leveraging social media by scraping consumer-generated content made with the hashtags #presidentschoice and #pcdiscoveries on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, then curating that content on PC.ca. Along with product information, the website also features recipes, how-tos, tips, and videos.

“You have an environment where food is so important nowadays,” says Uwe Stueckmann, Loblaw’s senior vice-president of marketing. “The conversation about food is louder than ever, so the time is right for us to take a leadership role.”

Two 30-second TV spots will also debut to speak to the company’s constant quest to innovate, the first of which will air Thursday night. In it, questions that lead to food discoveries are posed until Galen Weston encapsulates the company’s vision: “If you don’t search for more, you’ll never find it.”

The commercial will continue to air these spots during the most-anticipated season premieres on Rogers’ networks. Starting with the premiere episode of Modern Family on Sept. 24, PC will dominate ad time to broadcast vignettes of its “Crave More” campaign.

A second TV commercial will begin airing on Oct. 16 to cater to the growing consumer base that’s become more conscious of food ingredients. This 30-second spot will be PC’s official announcement of the removal of artificial colours and flavours from all PC branded foods.

PC partnered with ad agency John St. to produce the “Crave More” campaign, a project that’s been a year in the making. “It’s the questioning of the status quo that leads to the discoveries of foods and different ways of sourcing foods that is really the DNA of President’s Choice,” says Angus Tucker, partner and creative director of John St. “That’s what we were trying to capture, that passion for finding the new and the next.”